Former Penn State Coach Rene Portland Dies

Ignatius L Hoops

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http://www.espn.com/womens-college-...90/former-penn-state-coach-rene-portland-dies

Present at the creation; hired by Joe Paterno; the good; the bad:

Rene Portland, who built Penn State into a women's basketball powerhouse during a 27-year tenure, has died after a three-year fight with cancer.

She was 65. D'Anjolell Memorial Home of Broomall, Pennsylvania, confirmed her death Sunday.

Portland coached the Lady Lions' first All-Americans, achieved their first No. 1 ranking and reached their first Final Four. Of her 693 wins, 606 came as coach of the Lady Lions.

With dazzling point guard Helen Darling and stellar center Andrea Garner, Penn State reached the 2000 Final Four in Philadelphia, upsetting Iowa State and Louisiana Tech before falling to eventual-champion Connecticut in the national semifinals.

Late in her career, Portland also faced accusations she discriminated against players whom she perceived to be gay, with a former player suing Portland and the school in 2005.

An internal school investigation led to a one-game suspension and $10,000 fine, although Portland disputed the findings. The lawsuit was settled confidentially.

She resigned as coach of Penn State in 2007.



Respected by her peers, Portland is a past president of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association and was one of 10 women's coaches asked to help the NBA develop its first women's professional league, the WNBA, in 1997. That same year, she coached the U.S. national junior team to its first-ever gold medal at the World Championships.

Portland's pedigree stretched back to Immaculata College "Mighty Macs" -- one of the first dynasties in women's college basketball -- where she played on three Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women national championship teams in 1972, '73 and '74, before the NCAA recognized women's sports.
 


It is very devastating and tragic to read what happened to the kids that played for her who are gay. Penn State was willing to look the other way while Portland's teams won games until courageous former players forced the issue into the national spotlight.
 

Penn State seemed to excel at looking the other way when their teams were winning.
 




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